The Hunted
by Xamem-The Heart of Oblivion
Summary: The Hunted have had Hoenn in their grasp for years, and have been hunting down all Pokémon trainers. They are cruel and merciless and good at what they do. The number of trainers left is starting to dwindle. But they're starting to rebel..


In Hoenn, your birth will automatically place you in one of two categories.

The "good" one is a Hunter. This spot is reserved for children of Hunters.

The "bad" one is the Hunted. You'll run for the rest of your life, looking behind your back until you're caught and killed. That's what puts you into a third category-any Hunted that is killed is labeled a Victim or, to the Hunters, Prey.

At this point, the Hunted are dwindling, a real rarity. Any that are left are being tracked constantly, being toyed with. It's cruel, when they finally catch them. Most of the Hunted just lay in silence, waiting to greet Death. Some even give themselves up to the Hunters because life has become so unlivable.

Alexis is not one of those Hunted.

She was sitting on the beach, listening to the waves crashing on the shore. Her hair-mid-length and dark brown-was tied in a tight ponytail, and the wind was tossing it back and forth. Sand crunching behind her caused her to blink her dark blue eyes wearily. Blazekin sat himself next to her, steam rising from his feet as every wave washed over his toes. The both stared at the distant islands.

"Alexis!" It was Sasha, a sweet little girl practically like Alexis's sister. Her pink pigtails streamed behind her as she ran for Alexis.

A quick fact: three of the Hunted live in a little house in Lilycove city. You've met two of them. The third is a young man, who we'll call Ross for now.

Sasha is probably the youngest Hunted child, a product created from a night of desperate measures and a lucky pregnancy where nobody died. She was quickly left in Ross's care, her mother afraid and unwilling to take care of a baby.

She didn't last long.

In any case, Sasha wasn't worrying about her dead mother and unknown father right now. She was more worried that her Zigzagoon was nowhere to be found. Her panic-stricken tone made it obvious she was worried about him.

"Alexis, I can't find him! What if he was kidnapped? What if her was-," and she literally gasped here, "_eaten?_" Alexis had to laugh a little at Sasha's over dramatization.

"Sasha, nobody eats Zigzagoon. Even if they did, I doubt they'd like him; the meat would be too stringy," she teased. Sasha's pale green eyes widened in horror, not realizing it was just an ill-timed joke.

"That _isn't funny_!" she screeched, running back to the house to cry to Ross. Alexis felt bad, making the little girl that scared, but one day she was going to deal with scarier things than an absent Pokémon.

Pushing herself to her feet, Alexis started searching the shoreline for seashells. She liked to make necklaces for herself and Sasha with shells, and she thought maybe a necklace would help make Sasha feel a bit better.

Unfortunately, half an hour of combing the beach produced nothing pretty or smooth enough to make a necklace. Blazekin followed her all the way, a silent watchman, the scar across his eye a grim reminder of what could happen to the unprepared. She decided that she should go check on Sasha and headed towards their small, rundown house practically on the beach.

"Sasha? Ross?" Alexis poked her head in the front door, the silence deafening. She hesitantly took a few steps in, wondering what had happened to the ceaseless chattering, the ever-turning pages of a book. "Where are you guys?"

She went upstairs and found Sasha, curled up on the floor, sniffling. She immediately knew it wasn't a good idea to confront her now, and instead choose to ask Ross if he had seen anything.

"Ross? Is Sasha okay?" Ross removed his glasses, blinking his blue eyes warily and running his fingers through his slightly messy, light brown hair.

"No. Her Zigzagoon is missing. You wouldn't have anything to do with it, would you?" His stern look made her feel guilty, even if she technically didn't do anything wrong.

"I haven't seen the little guy since yesterday." She racked her mind, attempting to think of where she last saw him. If her memory was right (and it often wasn't) he had made a break for the woods. Perhaps he had gone foraging in the woods for berries, or maybe he wanted to see Fortree city.

Ross stood up slowly, stretching his arms over his head. "The muse gremlins are crying out to me. Or maybe it's just Sasha." He yawned and reached for a pad of paper. "Go comfort her, please? Maybe take her out looking for that Zigzagoon." Alexis nodded in agreement and left for her and Sasha's room.

"Sasha?" She tentatively pushed the door open wider, revealing that the little girl was no longer sobbing, just curled under her covers. She didn't answer, so Alexis sat herself on the edge of the bed and waited for her to speak.

"Did the Hunters get him?" The question was a hushed whisper, so much that Alexis had to bend over and have her say it again in her ear. Shaking her head, she kissed Sasha on the forehead and pulled the covers over her.

"No way. He's much to sneaky and clever! He'll show up by tonight, I promise. But just in case…" She grabbed a backpack from the floor and swung it over her shoulder. "I'll go look for him. He can't have gone far, he loves you too much for that." The last statement made Sasha smile a little bit.

"Okay. Bring him back…" She yawned and closed her eyes, breathing getting more even as she poured her trust into Alexis. Alexis smiled as well, though it was more grim and without any of her usual humor.

"I will. I promise." She gently closed the door behind her, making sure to check her bag for the necessities as she did so.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, in Fortree city, a young man is comforting a Zigzagoon. He hugs the little creature closely, stroking it's dirty brown fur and making low, comforting noises.<p>

"It's okay, little guy. What happened? Did Hunters find you?" At the sound of the word 'Hunter' the small Pokémon yelped and curled into a ball. The boy frowned, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Guess so. You ran from that direction…" He looked towards Route one-two-one. "…So you must've come from Lilycove city." _That's odd, _he thought, _Zigzagoon aren't native to Lilycove, and since it seems traumatized by Hunters, it must belong to a Hunted… _The thought sparked a tiny flame of hope that someone like him was nearby, someone he could take refuge with.

"I'm taking you home." Tucking the little guy under his arm, he started a light jog down the forest to the abandoned city.


End file.
